After a strong game against Cal following their bye week, the Oregon State football team struggled against UCLA in Los Angeles the following week. The offense failed to put together any consistency, while the defense was gashed up the middle all day long by the Bruin running game. With their backs against the wall, the Beavers headed home to face Pac-10 cellar dweller Washington State, only to come out flat and drop a disappointing 31-14 contest. At 4-5, OSU needs to win two of their last three contests against USC, Stanford in Palo Alto, and Oregon.
- Offensively, every inch of progress that was made in the Cal game was laid to rest the past two weekends. Defenses have been able to load up the box to try and shut down Quizz, and while his efforts have been excellent, turning one yard losses in to three to four yard gains, the offensive line has not made any room to run.
- With the ability to consistently run the ball out the window, the passing game has suffered immensely. The poise and confidence that Ryan Katz had shown earlier in the season is slowly fading, having trouble finding open receivers and often times holding on to the ball too long trying to make a play. Even with his recent struggles, he is still having a solid year for a first year starter.
- On defense, the mantra has been to bend but not break. The ability to stop opposing offenses on third down has haunted the team all year long, and when the Beavers have faced a mobile quarterback, forget about it. The ability for other teams to control time of possession has tired out an already thin defensive front plagued by injuries. The effort has been there, but it appears the D is just one step behind more often than not.
- The youth across the board has started to show more and more. The inconsistencies haunting this year's team can be pointed to that. Combine that with the season-ending injury of their emotional and physical leader James Rodgers, the lack of fire could be narrowed down to these two factors.
- Here is a good opportunity for the coaches to really see what this team is made of. The season is not completely lost. While it looks bleak facing the top three teams in the Pac-10, crazier things have happened. USC did lose at home to Washington and has trouble beating teams in the state of Oregon. Stanford has been a force this season, but have struggled with the Beavs this past decade. The Ducks will have all the pressure come Civil War if they can knock off Arizona in two weeks, and you can almost always throw out the records come rivalry games. If (and it's a big if) the team does not completely throw in the towel, there are three exciting games left on the docket and a good chance to take the season deep into December.
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